Cutler had 3 rushes for 37 yards including a 19 yarder. He should have slid if he didn't want to get hit.

The fact that he threw the ball beyond the LOS is irrelevant.

No offense Stan but that makes no sense. It is relevant. If he is in the pocket and behind the line..even if he is running forward..he is still a passer. He was looking to throw. I didn't think he crossed the line. They threw the flag on the fact that Dobbins went high. they do the same thing when WRs go across the middle and get hit in the helmet. If this was Schaub people would be up in arms.

Got to say I think theres a little bit of homerism going on here. On the slo-mo you clearly see Dobbins is caught a little flat-footed when Cutler throws the ball, clearly expecting him to continue running.

Watch as Dobbins stops, adjusts, and then accelerates into Cutler with as much force as he can.

It was a dirty hit that deserves a fine, if he gets off on some technicality then all power to him, but it was a cheap shot in a game where we knew we had to rattle Cutler and we weren't getting too many opportunities to lay him out in the pocket.

If anyone did that to Schaub the feeling on this board would be very different.

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Dobbins shouldn't get fined, because when he crossed the LOS he should be considered a RB. He will get fined for launching which is BS, because Cutler wasn't defenseless like Jackson was on the Robinson hit.

The main reason God'ell will fine Dobbins is that the hit was on a QB. The owners gotta protect their investment you know. God'ell is ruining NFL football that I grew up with.

Dobbins had the opportunity to put a shot on Cutler and he took the shot. This used to not even be a question of a penalty on a hit like this before God'ell became commish. The hit probably wouldn't have been called by the replacement refs. But that's another subject.

I have been floating around enjoying some of the news articles after the win and I was shocked to see a number of articles about Cutler being knocked out. It seems the fans in Chicago view the hit as "dirty" and "intended to knock Cutler out of the game."

When I watched the play unfold, the first thing I thought when he got hit was, "Why did he throw the ball he was way past the line of scrimmage" and Cutler just stopped running to throw the pass when the DBs came up for the hit.

When Dobbins hit him I thought, "Why the hell did he not slide after attempting to run the ball." Thinking that as soon as he passed the line of scrimmage he became a "runner."

So the question that I am stuck with and was confused about when there were to flags thrown was this... How can Cutler be flagged for throwing an illegal forward pass when he crosses the line of scrimage and yet still be protected as a QB when he ran the ball across the line of scrimmage?

All examples of running QBs crossing the line of scrimmage I can think of did not result in helmet to helmet calls unless the QB was sliding. RBs are not given helmet to helmet protection when they run the ball and I would have assumed it would pass over to Cutler in this instance.

All fans crying about this being some sort of headhunting bounty on the Texans parts need to go look at the two hits Scaub took against the Broncos. Then they can cry because they will realize our QB wouldn't be caught dead leavng the field after a tough hit and Cutler wouldn't return to the field for a play that was nowhere near as violent.

Ok, well it was an illegal hit (helmet to helmet) and it was flagged as it should have been. After the Broncos hits on Schaub earlier in the year the last thing I want to do is look like I'm ok with it if my guy does it so I'm not making excuses. It was an illegal hit and Dobbins was penalized.

Having said that I don't believe that Dobbins intended to hit Cutler high like that. They were closing on one another fast and my impression after the hit happened was that Dobbins was a little surprised that Cutler was still standing upright when he got to him. Watch the hit again and you see how awkward Dobbins position is when he wraps up Cutler and their heads collide. I believe that Dobbins thought Cutler would go down, slide or something (throw the ball?) prior to the hit and he was waiting for that to happen all the way into the collision. Cutler on the other hand was trying to stretch that play out and make something happen. He was going to throw the ball at the last possible second and before either of them (Cutler or Dobbins) was exactly where they wanted to be "BAM!" they hit.

Dobbins gets fined for it he should shut up and pay the bill but I didn't see malice in the tackle.

Cutler was beyond the los (that's why he was flagged for the pass) and definitely not in any kind of sliding posture (feet first or head first). So under those circumstances, is he not treated as just your ordinary,
garden-variety running back instead of a QB ?

One guy hoisting a guy into the air, then pile driving the guy into the turf with helmet in the chest. THAT is dirty.

A guy lowering his head and hitting a QB in the jaw/earhole as the QB is throwing the ball? THAT is dirty.

IMO, Dobbins clearly hit the QB in the head...but he wasn't trying to hurt him. Pollard had a bit of a helmet-to-helmet ding on OD or some other receiver for us in the Ravens game a few weeks ago, and I wasn't crying about how Pollard was being dirty--Because he wasn't. Yeah, hit our guy in the helmet...but it wasn't a dirty hit.

What Miller and Mabin (Broncos) did, IMO, was a dirty combination of hits on Schaub. Dobbins and Pollard, IMO, are examples of bad hits that aren't dirty.

If you watch the hit in slo-mo, he really lit up Cutler. His helmet catches Cutler's pretty good and you see Cutler's head get turned. It's like catching someone good on the side of the jaw - lights out. As for the question about him being a runner, all you really need to know is Cutler is a QB. The NFL makes up its own rules when it comes to QBs and everyone knows you can't hit a QB like that and get away with it. Dobbins was penalized and will get fined. If it were Schaub, there would be a similar percentage of Houston fans crying foul. It's just the way of the world.

QFT. Any discussion about hitting a QB at any point has to take into account the modern NFL. Comparisons to any other position is irrelevant. QBs are special positions in today's league, and as such, granted special privileges and protections.

Like it or not, just accept it as reality.

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Dobbits said outright he tried to hit Cutler up high because he was in the process of throwing and thought it would make him mess up. This proves a few things:

1. Dobbins hit Cutler as a passer, not a runner. Cutler's arm was cocked, too. Dobbins knew he was passing.

2. Dobbins purposefully hit him up high even though he could have hit him hip high instead. He even said he chose not to hit him hip high on purpose

Dobbins makes pretty clear contact with Cutler's head. Dirty or not makes no difference. I twas a pretty vicious hit, was definitely illegal, and Dobbins deserves both a penalty and a fine. I fthat had been Schaub, I'd call it dirty. Im as big of a homer as they come, but defending an obviously illegal hit after we've dealt with the same on other's boards is not something I'm going to do

The hit really doesn't look that bad to me, I would be surprised if he gets more than a 15k fine. He had his head up because he needed to try to block the pass, but he went for the hit after the throw anyways. Late hit on a passer, sure, but it wasn't all that vicious.

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Incorrect. When calling the penalty the ref clearly said "...hit to the QUARTERBACK ..."

So the officials blew the call. You can't call forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage AND hit to the QB because he was a RB. If Matt Forte is beyond the line of scrimmage and throws a pass does he get the same call? If not, bad call. If yes, then the ref should not have said "QB".

I agree with this. RB's don't enjoy the same protections that WR's get when it comes to helmet to helmet contact. Mainly because they lead with their helmet simply because of how they run.

Cutler became a RB the minute he "crossed" (Or when the Refs thought he crossed if you believe he didn't) the LOS. He therefore loses the protections of being a QB.

In all honesty the rule should probably be ammended because a QB doesn't run the ball the way a RB does. There should be some kind of defenseless QB rule when running. The QB is vunarable until he is way past the LOS.

I was screaming at the TV, although glad for the illegal forward pass, but pissed, because that was kind of having it both ways. I always wonder if the coaches yell some of the same things fans do when there are those strange calls.

Agree with the call or not, the same officiating crew that called the illegal hit also called (and later confirmed) that Cutler was across the line of scrimmage, so clearly that fact was not lost on them.

At this point, I think it's a given that there's a fine involved. That's too bad for Dobbins, and hopefully (for his sake) it's not too big, but my my only real concern is whether or not there's a suspension involved. If there is, it's a potential problem as that means that we've only got 2 "ILB's" on the roster (and yes, I know that Nading has played some ILB, and may have to again).

Again, you can vehemently disagree with the concept (and you may be correct), but when a flag is thrown on a hit that knocks out a team's starting QB, I'm going to worry about a suspension - right up until the time the league announces what they're going to do.

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If you're a QB and decided to leave the safety of the pocket and decide to venture down field you're basically crossing the rope line and harassing the big dog across the street. When you do that you can't ***** that he bit you.

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So does the rule state that he's still a passer, and thus still defenseless, even though he was across the line? If so, then it was the right call.

It really doesn't matter if he is considered a QB or a RB. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 7(a) defines defenseless player and states "(1) A player in the act of or just after throwing a pass." So the player's position doesn't matter. LT threw a bunch of TD passes. If he had been nailed high while passing he would have been a defenseless player.